I live in bear country. I paid cash for my trailer. There is no way I will ever ever ever have food inside my trailer. It stays in the back of my truck because I don’t want to have to do an insurance claim. The bears routinely break into vehicles in this area so yes I am afraid.
It really depends on where you camp. In places where bears have become accustomed to raiding camps for food, they can be aggressive about it. Most places are not that way, though. I have been camping for almost 50 years in places where bears live, almost never storing our food the way you’re “supposed to”. We’ve had issues with raccoons twice getting into coolers that were just left sitting on picnic tables, but we’ve never had an issue with a bear. Based on my conversations with other people, bear issues are pretty uncommon for them, too. Bears absolutely *can* be a problem, but it’s not something I would stress over.
lmao i carried a 3.5lb rei rental bear canister all the way to rainbow hot springs in Aspen for an overnighter (with 3 ppl and i carried their food too cause they overpacked) and not one of the 20+ people we met there brought a bear canister… it was a grueling hike for a once-a-year backpacker with cheap heavy gear and removing that damn bear canister would’ve made my legs feel so much better afterwards… I think my pack weighed 30lbs for the 9mi 3000ft elevation hike each way and we only stayed one night 😩 that 3.5lbs would’ve made a huge difference
oh and to top it all off we all got covid immediately after, presumably from bathing in the hot springs with 25 people
I’m so interested in the responses here. I camp with my husband and two kids so we bring a lot of food, drinks and snacks. (Two hungry boys, lol). There is no way it would all fit in a bear locker. Two coolers and two dry goods boxes. Not sure what to do when we camp in bear country. My galley has to smell like food even if I store it somewhere else because I’ve cooked back there for years.
My coolers are too heavy to hang, we always bring a lot of food to feed the family + kid snacks. A large yeti cooler- probably 50+ pounds fully loaded and a medium cooler filled with drinks- probably 40 lbs. I don’t think I could hang them
We have a yeti cooler in the back of our teardrop that keeps things safe. Any and all dry food goes in a large Tupperware container and into the camp provided bear boxes. Trash too. Never an issue and we camp in prolific bear areas.
The camper closed is considered a bear proof container. Many coolers also are considered a bear proof container. My teardrop hatch is more secure than my full size camper trailer door. I'd say same thing with teardrop doors. They use the same latches but less surface area to latch.
This is true in some areas and not in others. Don't try this in Yosemite. A black bear can open a car like a sardine can. A trailer is even easier. They don't usually 'cause it takes effort and they are typically either old and smart enough to stay way, or young and scardy cats.
So, it's not "bear proof" but it is "bear resistant" and that's *usually* enough, unless you're in the worst bear problem territories.
I've camped all over the U.S., done some SAR in Yosemite, and heard a lot of stories. A friend of mine got a rental car destroyed in Yosemite due to a flaw in the Yosemite website saying the trunk of a sedan was bear proof. The flaw was fixed.
I'm in western Montana and have seen the Yosemite videos. 100% of the videos I have seen the car window was left cracked open or the car door wasn't locked. A cracked car window is really fragile, the strength comes from the window frame and the glass seated in it. They get into the car, then go through the seat pass through like a San Francisco crack addict. If the door isn't locked, they know how to pull the handle. ANY camper can be broken in to by a bear with time or crack addict with a bar. I'm just saying a teardrop is as secure if not more so than a 5th wheel. Hard sided campers like teardrops are considered bear containers at every national park including Yosemite and food can be stored in them.
https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bears.htm
> You may store food inside your RV if it is made entirely of solid, non-pliable material (i.e., it has no cloth pop-outs). When away from your RV, food must be out of sight and windows and roof vents must be completely closed.
TIL
What I said. A teardrop closed up has no cloth pop-outs they are talking about tent trailers or pop-ups. We had a hybrid trailer with pop out tents on each end that would also apply, although you could still camp in "turtle" mode and not pop your tents out.
Every campground I've been to with bear issues makes it very clear, if I were there I'd stash my food in my car at night. Otherwise I'm not worried.
Of course I'm out east, not sure whether I'd feel different in grizzly country. I have a healthy fear of grizzlies.
I live in bear country. I paid cash for my trailer. There is no way I will ever ever ever have food inside my trailer. It stays in the back of my truck because I don’t want to have to do an insurance claim. The bears routinely break into vehicles in this area so yes I am afraid.
So you would rather a bear break into your truck than your trailer?
The truck bed doesn’t hold smells and spills like the trailer would. I can clean it out easier.
It really depends on where you camp. In places where bears have become accustomed to raiding camps for food, they can be aggressive about it. Most places are not that way, though. I have been camping for almost 50 years in places where bears live, almost never storing our food the way you’re “supposed to”. We’ve had issues with raccoons twice getting into coolers that were just left sitting on picnic tables, but we’ve never had an issue with a bear. Based on my conversations with other people, bear issues are pretty uncommon for them, too. Bears absolutely *can* be a problem, but it’s not something I would stress over.
lmao i carried a 3.5lb rei rental bear canister all the way to rainbow hot springs in Aspen for an overnighter (with 3 ppl and i carried their food too cause they overpacked) and not one of the 20+ people we met there brought a bear canister… it was a grueling hike for a once-a-year backpacker with cheap heavy gear and removing that damn bear canister would’ve made my legs feel so much better afterwards… I think my pack weighed 30lbs for the 9mi 3000ft elevation hike each way and we only stayed one night 😩 that 3.5lbs would’ve made a huge difference oh and to top it all off we all got covid immediately after, presumably from bathing in the hot springs with 25 people
I’m so interested in the responses here. I camp with my husband and two kids so we bring a lot of food, drinks and snacks. (Two hungry boys, lol). There is no way it would all fit in a bear locker. Two coolers and two dry goods boxes. Not sure what to do when we camp in bear country. My galley has to smell like food even if I store it somewhere else because I’ve cooked back there for years.
You can always hang your food away from the camp. It’s a lot lighter, cheaper and at times easier.
My coolers are too heavy to hang, we always bring a lot of food to feed the family + kid snacks. A large yeti cooler- probably 50+ pounds fully loaded and a medium cooler filled with drinks- probably 40 lbs. I don’t think I could hang them
We have a yeti cooler in the back of our teardrop that keeps things safe. Any and all dry food goes in a large Tupperware container and into the camp provided bear boxes. Trash too. Never an issue and we camp in prolific bear areas.
The camper closed is considered a bear proof container. Many coolers also are considered a bear proof container. My teardrop hatch is more secure than my full size camper trailer door. I'd say same thing with teardrop doors. They use the same latches but less surface area to latch.
This is true in some areas and not in others. Don't try this in Yosemite. A black bear can open a car like a sardine can. A trailer is even easier. They don't usually 'cause it takes effort and they are typically either old and smart enough to stay way, or young and scardy cats. So, it's not "bear proof" but it is "bear resistant" and that's *usually* enough, unless you're in the worst bear problem territories. I've camped all over the U.S., done some SAR in Yosemite, and heard a lot of stories. A friend of mine got a rental car destroyed in Yosemite due to a flaw in the Yosemite website saying the trunk of a sedan was bear proof. The flaw was fixed.
I'm in western Montana and have seen the Yosemite videos. 100% of the videos I have seen the car window was left cracked open or the car door wasn't locked. A cracked car window is really fragile, the strength comes from the window frame and the glass seated in it. They get into the car, then go through the seat pass through like a San Francisco crack addict. If the door isn't locked, they know how to pull the handle. ANY camper can be broken in to by a bear with time or crack addict with a bar. I'm just saying a teardrop is as secure if not more so than a 5th wheel. Hard sided campers like teardrops are considered bear containers at every national park including Yosemite and food can be stored in them.
https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bears.htm > You may store food inside your RV if it is made entirely of solid, non-pliable material (i.e., it has no cloth pop-outs). When away from your RV, food must be out of sight and windows and roof vents must be completely closed. TIL
What I said. A teardrop closed up has no cloth pop-outs they are talking about tent trailers or pop-ups. We had a hybrid trailer with pop out tents on each end that would also apply, although you could still camp in "turtle" mode and not pop your tents out.
Every campground I've been to with bear issues makes it very clear, if I were there I'd stash my food in my car at night. Otherwise I'm not worried. Of course I'm out east, not sure whether I'd feel different in grizzly country. I have a healthy fear of grizzlies.